In Brief
St. Mary's Education Society, a private unaided minority school, terminated an employee's services following a disciplinary inquiry. The employee filed a writ petition under Article 226. While the High Court's single judge dismissed it as unmaintainable, the Division Bench allowed an appeal and remitted the case for merits. The Supreme Court held that writ jurisdiction under Article 226 is not available for purely contractual service disputes in private institutions lacking statutory regulation. Although private schools discharge the public duty of education, individual employment disputes are private law matters without public element, hence not judicially reviewable under Article 226 absent statutory governance or public law issues. The Court set aside the Division Bench's judgment and rejected the writ petition on maintainability grounds.
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